Author: Meena Kumar

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Batter Fried Pepper with Tzatziki Sauce

Tell the fall breeze u are ready to take it.

This is a fall ready fire and Ice treatment with appetizer. U will love the crispy fried fritters dipped in cooling sauce perfect with ur cocktail for a breezy chilly evening.
These battered peppers are very famous in India It is a street food. But if u are ever in India I request please do not ever try it. The ones u get there is so spicy and hot if ur stomach is not trained to take so much spice and heat ur holiday will be ruined. Trust me I love u.

Five things to remember while flying to India if u are a foreigner:
1. Travel with a reputed tour operator or a reliable Indian friend. Do not travel alone and think u will experience it with the crowd. U are simply asking for trouble by wandering.
2. Visit the Historical palaces and heritage buildings, experience the grandeur and colossal architectural craftsmanship which speak volumes of the by gone era that still stand the test of time. Do a good research on the best ones to see as there are too many. Do things like giving elephant a bath, go for a rustic house boat ride to see the lush greenery, choose a full moon night to spent the night in it. Go for a full body ayurvedic massage from an established place with healing oils etc..
3.Have food that is specially made for u with lowered spice levels, from ur hotel or home stay where ever u are staying. Make ur own sandwich or take fruits for travel ,even if u are tempted to try street food stay away as ur immune system is not hardwired to take that.

4. Dress appropriately.The temperature number is not the amount of clothes u should shed. Instead keep ur self covered in cotton clothing to wick the sweat off easily and keep off from prying eyes.
5. India is a country where many centuries co-exist. Its ur perfect chance to experience a culture u have never seen. Don't decide to walk around and kill ur feet or suddenly become a people's photographer making a fool of urself taking pictures of beggars and commoners spending ur precious time on it. Its just as weird as some random person taking photo of urs wearing a business suit or casuals and leaving for work or at a pool in swim suit. :)))
U may not save much by cutting corners and seeing places relying solely on ur hand guide India is not the safe place to do it. On the contrary spend good bucks, get royal treatment, live like a king and come back with good memories.

Method:1. Wash the pepper and wipe it well.Don't throw the stalk just make a slit length wise. Make sure it does not go deep cutting the bottom side. Take a kitchen scissors and cut off the main membrane and seeds. Clean the inside by inserting the other end of a spoon. I use gloves to clean with finger as sometimes my skin irritates even from harmless peppers. Pour the 1-2 tsps of tamarind water(tamarind mixed with salt and 3-4 tbsp water) into the pepper Set aside for 20-30 minutes.It gives extra taste as the the tamarind lightly coats the inside of pepper.Makes the pepper less hot too.Drain off excess tamarind water from the pepper before coating.(Pat dry before coating with batter).2.Make a thick batter with all the powders adding water lil by lil. (Note :If it is watery add more of the chick pea flour so that the batter coats the outside of pepper thickly while it is dropped into hot oil or it will simply float all over the oil.)3.Heat oil to deep fry in a wide wok .When oil is medium hot dip the pepper in the batter and drop into oil let it cook on one side and become brown then turn and let it brown evenly.

Do not crowd fry 2-3 at a time or depending on the size of the wok.4. Drain excess oil on a paper towel and serve the fritter hot along with any sauce of ur liking. It tastes good even without a dip.

Tzatziki Sauce:

Cucumber - 1 peeled and cubed

Yogurt thick -1 cup (Greek yogurt preferred) or Plain

Dill leaves - 1 tbsp chopped

Garlic &Parsley powder -1 tsp

Lime juice -1 tbsp

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything thoroughly except cucumber and add the cucumber mix gently cover and chill it for an hour.Hope you like this post.MeenaFor more Labor Day food ideas from FOOD NETWORK friends:The Lemon Bowl:Lemon Garlic Chicken Kabobs